[jimbojim]

Every time i wash the g80 water stores under external trim like the m badge, window seals headlights etc. I bought a small blower but despite spending up to 30 minutes blowing the water out, after drying the car there is always some water that has dripped out and left stains on the otherwise pristine vehicle.

Any tricks to getting all the water out and having a spotless car after a wash?

[chefwong]

A more powerful blower ? How small is small in blower ?

Sometimes areas collect water like the mirror housings.
Even after blowing, I open the doors to -change the angle- of the door/mirror housing. Some water dribbles out....and that is after blowing the mirror housing with water. Close the door. Guaranteed, I will come back 10 minutes later as usually closing the door from open, there is still More Water to drip.

Every car is different so it just depends where it collects water regardless of the blower as well

[tracer bullet]

Yep, it's a thing. I have a powerful blower and the car gets perfect after that plus a couple minutes with a towel. And without a doubt after I pull it into the garage I'll have more water to dry off. I've just come to expect it and do a little dance with it - start it up, go backwards a bit and hit the brakes once or twice, then forwards to do the same, then pull into the garage and start drying again. The good news is that after that, all the water is actually gone and there's no more drips.

[chefwong]

Originally Posted by jimbojim

spending up to 30 minutes blowing

I just re-read you post. What blower are you using. What is the LSP you have on your car.

I use a leaf blower. It takes me no more than 3 minutes to blow the entire car. 30 Minutes is excessive....Might be faster with a high Quality Drying Towel like a XL Griots PFM.

I try to remain touchless as much as possible....granted car washing requires some level of mechanical agitation. So I blow dry and just Blot Whatever remains

[bosstones]

Ah...one of the banes of thinking you've finally finished cleaning your car...

Side mirrors and underneath the doors are typically what gets me

I now fold up the side mirrors when I dry the roof and front/rear windshields. I found that it isn't really water trapped in the mirror assembly itself that has been trapping water as it is the water that is trapped between the mirror assemble and it's base (that attaches to the car itself). By the time I get to the doors, with mirror folded up, the bulk of the trapped water has drained out. Towel easily takes care of the rest.

Doors...might be compounded by anything trickling thru the rain channels/drains but I open the doors and manually dry off the sills and clean & dry the underside of the entire door.....then leave them open (if I can) while I move onto whatever is needed. Typically, this is when I move to derail/clean the interior.

I use The Rag Company Gauntlet towels and have since picked up their smaller towel for wheels. They easily fit in the wheel barrels so, when done with a wheel, I just leave it under the rotor to catch any additional water that might still he dripping from the rotor or caliper. 1 small towel per wheel. I keep to moving the car to a minimum since I'm convinced that my car breathes brake dust. Just the act of moving it 10ft forward to pull it back into the garage results in a noticeable coat of brake dust. I know it'll happen the first time I drive it but I psychologically suppress that thought and just like seeing the wheels clean when I walk out to the car the next morning.

[starlights]

Something like this?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/2691659078

It was on sale for $20 last week and I picked up one - very powerful at close range.

[MaxVO2]

Originally Posted by bosstones

Ah...one of the banes of thinking you've finally finished cleaning your car...

Side mirrors and underneath the doors are typically what gets me

I now fold up the side mirrors when I dry the roof and front/rear windshields. I found that it isn't really water trapped in the mirror assembly itself that has been trapping water as it is the water that is trapped between the mirror assemble and it's base (that attaches to the car itself). By the time I get to the doors, with mirror folded up, the bulk of the trapped water has drained out. Towel easily takes care of the rest.

Doors...might be compounded by anything trickling thru the rain channels/drains but I open the doors and manually dry off the sills and clean & dry the underside of the entire door.....then leave them open (if I can) while I move onto whatever is needed. Typically, this is when I move to derail/clean the interior.

I use The Rag Company Gauntlet towels and have since picked up their smaller towel for wheels. They easily fit in the wheel barrels so, when done with a wheel, I just leave it under the rotor to catch any additional water that might still he dripping from the rotor or caliper. 1 small towel per wheel. I keep to moving the car to a minimum since I'm convinced that my car breathes brake dust. Just the act of moving it 10ft forward to pull it back into the garage results in a noticeable coat of brake dust. I know it'll happen the first time I drive it but I psychologically suppress that thought and just like seeing the wheels clean when I walk out to the car the next morning.

****Yea, I'm a neat freak and the brake dust thing almost immediately after washing and doing significant detailing work really was bugging me so even though I have a newish car (less than 7500 miles), I replaced all of the stock brake pads with low dust ceramics (EBC Reds I think, front and back..) and after breaking them in, brake dust is reduced conservatively 85%, probably more and the dust that does collect is *easily* washed off with water and a bit of cleaner... Nothing like before.

For giggles I also pulled all the wheels off and scrubbed the backs of them of the old pre EBC pad brake dust so I could better judge how well the new pads worked and it was worth every penny to me to have replaced the pads (did them myself, and I have the special tool for retracting the rear piston) as the wheels are clean and stay that way a LOT longer than before!

I did the same with my Benz as it had the same problem with brake dust with the stock pads.

Amazing. SO much happier now not seeing that gold patina of dust all over my nice black wheels on the M8 after driving it literally a couple of miles it seemed. First world problem!

[jwmFcreek]

Have a XM label this RYOBI hand held blower is powrful and awesome

[Emily172013]

My old leaf blower gave out last year. I replaced it with a new one but kept the old nozzle and cut it to about 12in. Works great on the cars and fine that it blows the leaves off the driveway about as good as the long nozzle.